La matière dans tous ses états

Abstract

Contrary to the idea that material culture and technical activity are merely mirrors of the socio-cultural contexts in which they are embedded, this contribution attempts to explore their capacity to produce sensations and acts. Drawing on my Master’s ethnographic research on the contemporary practice of alchemy in France and Italy, I will explore more precisely the mediating role of fire in the production of vital processes through their combination within techniques for transforming mineral matter. In its correspondence with alchemical theories of matter and techniques of material transformation, fire will be approached as an interface operationalizing transfers between techniques of life, knowledge about, and relationships to, matter.

Keywords

• fire
• life
• alchemy
• techniques
• body